June 30, 2011

Just what is it about the perfectly idealised American housewife of the 1950s that so appeals to me? Yes, I'm gay, but does that really make much sense for a reason? I mean, wouldn't it make more sense if I was straight? I am, after all, attracted to images of women dressed in some of their finest wardrobe, cooking and cleaning to their heart's content.

I guess when it's put that way it does sound pretty gay, huh? Oh, well.

June 15, 2011

While wandering through an antique mall over the weekend, I stumbled across this colorful gem of a picture hanging in a simple 8x10 frame. My eyes just about popped out of their sockets because, as my good friend Matt said, "It's sooo up Anthony's alley!" And if you're a regular Pop Circus visitor you know how true a statement that really was. So, of course, I snatched that puppy right up and took it home. But I was curious to know more about the artist. Just WHO was this Frahm person? Was this print out of a book, or was it one in a series? I had to know more. To the internet I went, and what I found was quite interesting...

Art Frahm (1907-1981) was an American painter of campy pin-up girls and advertising. He lived in Chicago and was active from the 1940s to 1960s. Today he's best known for his "ladies in distress" pictures involving beautiful young women whose panties mysteriously flutter to the ground in public situations, often causing them to spill their bag of groceries.

Frahm was commercially successful, and even his falling-panties paintings were later imitated by other pin-up artists. In fact, to this day the falling-panties art has a small cult following as mid-20th century kitsch, or even as fetish art.

In addition to pin-ups, Frahm created a series of humorous hobo-themed calendar illustrations. Another set of paintings celebrated traffic safety, complete with smiling, chubby crossing guards and schoolchildren. (Ding! Ding! Ding! Just like the one I have!) His advertising art included works for Coca-Cola and Coppertone.

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Boy, talk about one extreme to the other, huh? Somehow, Frahm even managed to make an adorable pup look like a "horn dog" in the second picture. That's a bit TOO creepy. I think I'll just stick with the traffic safety series, thank you very much.

June 4, 2011

My poor husband. All he's heard from me for weeks, now, is how much I want the new Nintendo 3DS portable video game system. And if it were reasonably priced I might have one by now, but, unfortunately, it is NOT! You know what the thing retails for? $250.00!! Yep, you read that right. Pretty crazy, huh? That's the kind of dough you'd normally pay for a major game console. All things considered, though, I think it might be worth it... Read on if you're interested in what this baby can do.

3D without glasses, dude! I don't know how they do it, but it truly is amazing! I tried it out at a Nintendo display in a local store and I was blown away. A cool thing about the 3D is that there's an adjuster switch so you can fix the intensity for what works best with your own eyes. Or the effect can even be turned off completely, if you prefer. Aaand the 3D madness doesn't end there. No! There's also 2 (two) built-in cameras on the outside of the unit for taking photos in 3D (possibly video, too, but that hasn't been confirmed). How cool is that? What I've described here only scratches the surface of everything Nintendo's latest toy actually does. So if you're at all interested, I strongly recommend checking one of these bad boys out in person at a retailer near you. No amount of description could possibly do it justice - you HAVE to experience it first-hand in order to really appreciate it!

Maybe I'll do a follow-up post if/when I get one of my very own. That way, after spending more time with one, I could give a more thorough and educated review. Hear that, Nintendo?

YOUR RINGMASTER

I'm an adult who isn't the least bit ashamed of my love for toys. I also enjoy board games, art, music, photography, laughter, and just about any good old-fashioned circus. But I really dig pop culture, and that's the main reason I do this blog. I hope that you enjoy the show and come back once in a while to see what's new!

Button, button... Who's got the button?

I've got your button, right here! Please, feel free to copy and use as a link from your own blog. I'm sure it would just look terrific!

KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS!

Now see, this nice little girl totally "gets it"! And she also proves a point that I feel very strongly about. I believe children are born completely innocent, with open hearts and open minds. Then, as a child grows and encounters more of their surrounding world, he or she just accepts things and people as they are because the child isn't aware of any reason to feel differently. Unless, of course, they have ignorant, narrow-minded parents who raise them to view our world with hatred and discrimination...

FAMILY FUNHOUSE

You've gotta check this out! Awkward Family Photos.com is such an entertaining website, and real addictive! We ALL probably have at least one or two awkward photos like this in our albums, right?! Click on the "happy" family above for more fine examples of visually documented discomfort...

"STOP CLOWNING AROUND!"

... and visit my husband's website! He's both a writer AND an artist! He's Tommy Kovac!

HERE'S A TASTY TREAT...

Strap on your moon boots and hop in the time machine 'cuz you're gonna be taken on a trip!

All content within this blog, unless otherwise noted, is Copyright by Anthony, the Ringmaster of Pop Circus.Personal photos and images shown on this blog cannot be used without his permission. Images sourced from other websites or search engines are only used for commentary/educational purposes. If you have Copyright to an image that he's used and would like it removed, please send him an e-mail.